Zaheer Khan: I’m missing cricket

Mumbai: Zaheer Khan, on Tuesday, said it was disappointing to miss the England series due to injury as he had undergone rigorous training sessions to be part of the India squad.

“I am missing playing cricket. I was preparing for the England tour for a long time and that was one of the reasons why I went through all those regimes before.

“But when things happen, you don’t have any control over it,” the left-arm pacer commented.

“You don’t have any control over injuries and doesn’t matter how much ever you train, it is one thing that you can’t control as a sportsman. It was frustrating to miss the series, but you have to take things in your stride and do the right thing,” he said.

The 35-year old had strained his left latissmus dorsi muscle during the IPL that ruled him out of the series. Zaheer said he would start his second phase of rehab by bowling gradually.

“I am going to start my bowling phase of rehab in first week of August. I have not bowled at all so far, so it will be hard for me to comment on that. I am working on it and let’s see how things unfold,” he said.

“You can do everything right and still go on and get injured. No one knows what is coming.

“Most of the injuries happen when you are giving a lot of effort. You don’t really have control over it and the biggest thing I have learnt is that you can only control the controllable.”

Zaheer said that even after covering all bases, it was frustrating to get injured. “You can do everything right and cover all the angles and still go and get injured. And in most cases, that is what happens, which is most frustrating.

“When you get injured, you always ask, I did everything right. Why did it have to be me? You just have to be in the present and that’s the best thing you can do in that particular moment,” he added.

Ishant Sharma’s absence from the ongoing third Test was certainly unfortunate for India since he’s the in-form bowler, Zaheer said. “I hope Ishant’s injury is not serious and he still can contribute in the series. There are some injuries in case of which you have no option but to sit out,” Zaheer said.

Speaking of India’s victory in the previous Test, Zaheer highlighted team effort as the major plus point for the Mahendra Singh Dhonis. “It was a team effort with everyone chipping in, not only the bowlers, but someone like Ajinkya Rahane’s first innings hundred was commendable.”